The Workplace Should Value Women More, so Why Doesn’t It?

Women became an integral part of the workforce just before the Great Depression when men were off fighting the war. Women were expected to both go to work at the factories to earn money as well as be the primary caretaker for their children during the parent’s absence.

From this day and on through history, women have been proving themselves capable of far more than we were originally thought to be. The workplace is certainly a reflection of that hard work, as over half of the current workforce is female. Education plays a big role in this inflation because women are obtaining degrees more frequently with over 30 percent of women earning four-year degrees.

Though women have made a huge mark on the job industry since the 19th century, there are still some major oversights, the gender gap being one of the biggest. The following are a list of traits that women bring to the workplace despite the sexism they have faced every day since they were born.

Women Learn Numbers Faster and Better

Based on a study performed in Europe, scientists have determined that as societies around the world begin to grow and upgrade, women also grow into stronger learners than men. Specifically, women’s episodic memories (which deals with the comprehension of numbers) increase at a higher rate than men, leading to a deeper understanding of numerical values in a quicker manner.

This means that, despite recent comments from a Google Engineer in his memo entitled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” women can be better with numbers and values than men. Regardless of the stereotypes women are forced to live under, they have proven themselves, both scientifically and generally, that they are just as competent and valuable in the workforce as men.

This recognition of the power of women is evident in the tech industry. Though women dominate the job sector, the tech industry has one of the largest and most apparent gender gaps. Women are talented at tech, but are not being given proper opportunities and therefore can’t bring extra value and diversity to the industry by using the numerical skills they were born with.

women speak on average 5,000 more words than men leading to clearer comprehension

women have a more developed understanding of empathy and therefore actively listen better than men

and women are less likely to interrupt speakers allowing them to finish thoughts

Communication is a vital skill in any workplace. Without it, things aren’t made clear, and tasks often go unfinished. Giving women the proper opportunities in the workplace to demonstrate their abilities in communication could lead to more efficient production, the timely completion of goals and could even work to inspire a more positive experience for both men and women.

Women like Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris are demonstrating this communicative power in politics and in the world. They are both leaders of the US paving the way for future women to speak truth to power and inspire change with their words.

During independent research performed by the Ponemon Institute, analysts found that women were less distracted by things happening around them at work. According to the research, during a 10-minute interval, 52 percent of men left their desks while only 38 percent of women left theirs after being given an opportunity to. More focused employees can help build company morale by upholding the values of the business and displaying a level of attentiveness to work that becomes infectious among other employees.

Several studies have been performed in an attempt to determine which sex is more productive at work. Studies found that women spent more time on shopping sites, but men visited more sites per day, which made some conclude that men and women are just as productive as the other. However, another point could be made here to determine that women are more productive based on the wage gap.

Women are statistically paid less than men, so if you consider the amount of work being done in relation to the amount of pay being earned, women are doing more work for less money and are therefore using their time more wisely. This can be extremely beneficial to employees because they don’t have to worry about company expenses being wasted in areas that aren’t showing exceeding potential or growth.

Women Work Harder, Longer Hours

The World Economic Forum recently did a worldwide study of the workplace, taking into account the total hours worked by men and women in a year. They found that after the year completed, on average, women spent 39 more days at work than men did. This data took into account time spent working for money as well as time spent working for a living. Men did earn more wages than women, but women spent more time working for wages, taking care of children and taking care of the household. And running a household can feel like second job to many.

Historically, women have not been given proper opportunities in the workplace. Only recently have some low-income countries even allowed women to become employed. Because of this previous standard that implied women can’t do as much as men, women have worked especially hard to dismantle this theory. Women work hard everyday to earn their place in the world and gain the respect they deserve. This is apparent in the workplace because women will do more to earn a promotion than men, considering men are offered promotions at a faster rate than women.

Something must be done today to ensure that women are being given the proper opportunities to excel in their careers. Education is playing a big role in the upbringing of women around the world, opening up more freedoms for them to receive certifications and degrees that weren’t available to them previously.

The world is an amazingly diverse place. Once the workplace looks as diverse as the world, there will be many more opportunities to create unique and inspiring products. Until then, perhaps taking a page from the woman’s playbook on how to be a more successful employee could help.